Bouncing ball game device



Feb. 24, 1953 G. H. FORSYTH 2,629,594

BOUNCING BALL GAME DEVICE Filed Sept. 13, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 24,1953 G. H. FORSYTH 2,629,594

BOUNCING BALL GAME DEVICE Filed Sept. 13, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 J71 enfor 20 Gear eff 1 5715} 7? 5y IQZAW ua Feb. 24, 1953 G. H. FORSYTHBOUNCING BALL GAME DEVICE Filed Sept. 13, 1951' 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 1953 G.H. FORSYTH BOUNCING BALL. GAME DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 131951 Patented Feb. 24, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BQUN ING BA GAMEDE ICE George H; Forsyth, Evanston, 111.

Application September 13, 1951,, Serial No. 246,407

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for a game of thetype played with a paddle or bat and a ball, and more particularly for agame somewhat similar to table tennis intended to be played indoors.

,One ,-of the principal objects .of the invention is to provide a tablecourt game apparatus including a playing court with an upright abutmentwall at one endarranged in a predetermined inclined relation to theplaying court so as to keep the ball in play for extended relays byinsuring a rebound on the surface of the playing court, all of therelationships of the rebounding surfaces being directed to this end.

A further object of th invention is to provide an apparatus ofthe-'kind-abovereferred to wherein the various rebounding surfaces areintegrated so as to produce a game readily adaptable for players ofvarying skills and for use in relatively small or large quarters orfloor space, as desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus including aplaying court and an abutment wall wherein the court is normallysupported at substantially the height of an ordinary table, but which isadapted for a type of game wherein the .ball must be kept inplayby-returning it to the abutment before the ball strikes the floor,or for another type of game wherein the ball may also rebound on asecond court at the floor level on which the game apparatus issupported.

The present application is a continuation-inpart-of my prior-applicationbearing Serial Number 443,847, filed May 2'7, 1942 now abandoned, and ofmy copending application bearing Serial Number 617,329, filed September19, 1945. If-he game apparatus of the present application disclosespreferred proportions and angular arrangement of the playing surfaces ofthe court and abutment which have been found .by experience to be mostdesirable for a game apparatus of :this kind.

The game apparatus of my invention is characterized by the dispositionof the end abutment wall at a substantialangle of inclination toward theplayer endof the court, as broadly disclosed in my copendingapplication, Serial Number 617,329, which insures that a ball struckfrom the player end of the court against said inclined abutment andimpinging ,on the latter below a prescribed boundary ,line will tend tobe deflected downwardly on rebound so as to bounce on the surface of thecourtbefore .it reaches the player end of ;the court.

heaapparatus especially .adapted'ior .a con.-

'2 test between two players, both standing at the same end of the tablecourt, and alternately striking the ball to keep it in play.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from time totime as the following description proceeds.

The invention may best be understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of one form of the apparatus set up inposition for play in connection with a :dgor court, and illustrating themanner of rebound of a ball when struck in certain directions toward theend abutment wall;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, but illustrating the manner ofrebound of the ball when struck in certainother directions toward theend abutment wall, so as to rebound finally on the floor court;

Figure 3 ;is an enlarged longitudinal section of the apparatus shown inFigure 1;

Figure 4, is a sectional view of the apparatus taken generally on lineAi-l .of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an end view of the apparatus shown in Figure 3, looking fromthe player end of the court toward the abutment wall;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a modified form of apparatus similarto that shown in the preceding figures, excepting that the end abutmentwall is substantially straight from one side to the other instead ofbeing formedof two panels diverging horizontally from the verticalcenter line of the end wall toward th player end of the court;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the modified form of apparatusshown inFigure 6, taken on a line corresponding to line l--i of FigureB;

Figure 8 is a diagrammatic view in side elevation illustrating the basicrelationship of the inclined end wall to the length of the court of theform of apparatus shown in Figures 1 to 5, and alsoof the form ofapparatus shown in Figure 6;

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic view similar to Figure 8, showing a modifiedform of apparatus;

Figure 10 is a diagrammatic view similar to Figure 8 showing stillanother modified form of apparatus.

Referrin now to detailsof the embodiment of my invention as shown in theformof apparatus disclosed in detail in Figures -1 to ,5, bothinclusive, the apparatus consists essentially of a play.- g table courtindicated generally at I8, an abutment or end wall TM rising from oneendof the court area. Side walls l2 12 preferably entend forwardly ;fromthe side edgesof the abutment wall and termin t a en t e from en 3 ofthe court, which for convenience may be referred to as the player end ofthe court. The side edges of the court if] and the side walls l2, l2preferably diverge forwardly toward the player end of the court.

The playing court l shown in the'drawings is disposed at approximatelythe same height as a conventional table tennis court, in the form shownthe apparatus being supported on four legs l3, [3 connected to suitableframe members [4, l4 extending horizontally beneath the front and rearends of the playing court, and crossconnected side frame members l5, [5connecting the front and rear pairs of legs, as shown in Figures 3 and4.

In the form of apparatus shown in Figures 1 to 5, the playing court l0consists of two plane areas or panels I! and I8 disposed in a generallyhorizontal plane but with the rear court panel I! inclined downwardly ata slight angle from the horizontal toward the player end of the courtfor approximately two-thirds of the full length of the floor court area,and the second court panel I8 being inclined upwardly at a slight anglefrom the horizontal for the remaining one-third of the full length ofthe court area. The terminal edge 20 of the panel 18 at the player endof the court may be termed the base line of the court, and as shownherein may be substantially straight except where it is slightly curvedor rounded at opposite ends of said base line. The two court panels I!and I8 are disposed at a relatively wide angle of approximately 164degrees to each other and at substantially equal angles of 8 degrees tothe horizontal.

The function and advantages of this angular relationship of the courtpanels I! and It will hereafter more fully appear.

The abutment or end wall ll of the form of apparatus shown in Figures 1to 5 consists of two similar upright panels 2| and 22 arranged at a widedihedral angle to each other, diverging horizontally toward the playerend of the court. The vertex or line of intersection between the panels2| and 22 is disposed in a vertical plane including a longitudinal axisof the court which for convenience in Figure 1 is indicated by a line23, which may be actually marked on the upper surfaces of the floorpanel sections I1 and I8 if desired. The horizontal angle between thetwo panels 2| and 22 as shown is approximately 175 degrees, with eachpanel section diverging at an angle of approximately 7 degrees to a linedrawn perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis 23 of the court. Thisinclined angular relationship of the abutment wall toward the playingcourt constitutes a characteristic and important feature of my improvedgame apparatus, as will presently more fully be described.

Figure 6 shows a modified form of apparatus which is similar in allrespects to the form shown in Figures 1 to 5, excepting that the end orabutment wall I la comprises a single panel extending the full widthbetween the side walls l2, 12 instead of having two end panels 2|, 22arranged at a wide dihedral angle to each other, as previouslydescribed. The end panels 2| and 22 of the form shown in Figures 1 to 5are disposed at such a wide dihedral angle to each other that they maybe considered as disposed in substantially the same plane for thepurposes of explaining the characteristic angular relationship of theabutment wall to the length of the playing court.

A continuous line 28 is marked horizontally along both of the end panels2| and 22 of the 4 form of apparatus shown in Figures 1 to 5intermediate the base and top edges of said panels, and a correspondingline 28 is marked along the single end panel Ila of the form ofapparatus shown in Figure 6. These horizontal lines constitute the upperboundary of a predetermined horizontal playing area on both said endabutment panels, so disposed that a ball fairly struck from any positionat the player end of the court and rebounding from the horizontalplaying area below its horizontal boundary line will normally bedeflected downwardly to rebound upon the court area i0 before the ballpasses beyond the base line 20 at the player end of the court.

The characteristic relationship between the height and inclination ofthe playing area and the length of the court essential for insuring arebound of the ball on the court area, regardless of how hard the ballmay be struck, may now be explained more fully by reference to Figure 8of the drawings, wherein this relationship is illustrateddiagrammatically. In this figure, B represents the horizontal boundaryline 28 denoting the upper limit of the playing area BC of the abutmentwall. CD represents the length of the upwardly inclined table courtsection I! of the apparatus.

The several rebounding areas thus designated are arranged so that,regardless of minor permissible variations in the lengths of the areasBC, CD or DG which may be selected for the apparatus, the angle CBG willbe approximately degrees in each instance. For instance, assuming thatthe trajectory of the ball continues in a straight path after eachrebound and the angle of rebound is equal to the angle of incidence witheach rebounding surface, it will be understood that, with therelationship of the rebounding surfaces shown diagrammatically in Figure8, a ball propelled from just above the base line G and striking theabutment wall BC at its extreme upper end B will be returned for arebound on the court area substantially at the base line G. If the ballis propelled from any point above the base line G, the ball will bedeflected downwardly at a greater angle, depending upon the height fromwhich it is propelled.

Although the angle CBG should theoretically be no greater than 90degrees, in practice this angle may be a few degrees more than 90degrees without substantial danger that a ball struck against the endwall from any position at the player end of the court will pass over thebase line G before rebounding on the playing court. This is due to thefact that in practice it is impossible for most skillful players toimpart sufficient velocity to a ball to maintain its trajectory in astraight path for approximately twice the length of the court, since thetrajectory will normally be sufficiently affected by gravity and by lossin velocity upon rebound from the end wall that it will tend to curvedownwardly to some degree before it rebounds on the court area. Eventhough skilled players may stroke the ball with sufiicient overspin toproduce a rebound from the end wall BC at an angle somewhat higher thanthe normal angle of incidence, it is seldom, if ever, possible toproduce a sufiicient upward deviation of the ball in this manner toreturn the ball in flight beyond the base line G.

Accordingly, for the purposes of the present invention, it will beunderstood that the angle CBG should be substantially a right angle inall cases, although it might exceed this value by a few degrees withoutmaterially affectingv play.

On the'other hand, this angle CBG should not b'e substantially less thana right angle, if a reasonably fast game is desired.

The relative length of the playing area CG and the height of the endwall CB may be varied within reasonable limits, provided the angle CBGis maintained substantially at a right angle, as just described. Forbest results however, the playing court should be considerably longerthan the height of the end wall, with the latter in a fairly uprightposition. For example, an arrangement wherein the horizontal length ofthe playing court CG is approximately six feet, the end wall BC may beapproximately two feet; that is to say, from the base of said end wallto its upper horizontal boundary lineB.

Since the angle CBG is substantially a right angle, the triangle CBG istherefore a right triangle. If theheight CB is two feet and the lengthand the court CG is six feet, then in the right triangle CBG the cosineof angle theta is equal to From the table of natural functions, angletheta would, therefore, be equal to 70 44. From this formula, it is seenthat the height CB of the abutment wall from its base to the upperboundary line will vary as the cosine of the angle theta and the lengthof the table will vary inversely as the cosine of the angle theta.

t will be observed that the above formula for determining the angle ofinclination of the end wall to the court will not be affected by thepresence of the inclined court areas CD or DG or by permissiblevariations in the relative lengths or inclinations of said court areasto each other. In fact, another modified form of apparatus showndiagrammatically in Figure 9 may be employed in which the entire courtconsists of a single plane area coincident with the plane CG of Figure8. Obviously, the characteristic relationship between the height andinclination of the end wall to the length of the court will be the sameas in the forms of apparatus shown in Figures 1 to 5 and Figure 6,,respectively.

Astill further modification of the apparatus is shown diagrammaticallyin Figure wherein the major portion of the court area corresponding tothe court panel .ll of the forms shown in Figure 1 is disposed in asubstantially horizontal plane, while a minor portion of the court areacorresponding generally to the court panel I8 at the player end of thecourt is inclined upwardly at a wide angle to the horizontal. Theangular relation of the court areas and the end wall remain the same asin the form shown in Figure 9, excepting that they are all tilted bodilyto dispose the major portion of the court area in a horizontal plane.

Referring again to the apparatus as used in play, it will be observedthat the end panels 2 i, 22 of the form shown in Figures 1 to 5 and thecorresponding single end panel Ha of the form of apparatus shown inFigure 6 are extended upwardly a substantial distance above thehorizontal boundary lines 23 in each instance. The side walls l2, 12 arealso extended upwardly. This arrangement is particularly desirable toinsure the return of balls which may be unintentionally propelled by theplayer so as to strike the end wall above the horizontal boundary line,thus saving loss in time and effort by the players in retrieving theball even though it maybe declared 6 out of play by reason of striking:the end wall above the playing area demarked thereon.

While the main characteristics above mentioned with respect to thevarious forms of .apparatus here'inabove described are practicallyidentical, the form of apparatus shown in Figures 1 to 5 with divergentend panels 21., 22 :has one practical advantage whereby :a ball which ishit straight up one side of the court toward the panel on that side willtend to rebound obliquely toward the other side of the court. Also, whenany ball is hit diagonally toward a panel on the other side, it willtend to reboundstraight down the other side of the table. This tends toprevent interference between the two players as the game proceeds, sinceeach of the two players can stand toward h-isown side of the end of thetable and the ball will tend to rebound toward the other playerregardless of what part of the abutment wall it strikes.

The basic relationship between .the height and inclination of the endwall and the length of the court which characterizes the various formsof apparatus previously described may be defined as consisting in thearrangement wherein the playing area 'on the end wall is inclinedupwardly at such an acute angle to the general plane of the court that aplane intersecting the upper horizontal boundary of said playing .areasubstantially at right angles to the latter will intersect the courtsubstantially along the base line of the latter.

This basic relationship is maintained in the preferred form of apparatusshown in Figures 1 to 5, even though the end panels 2| and 22 are indiverging planes, by inclining the horizontal boundary line '28 markedon these panels downwardly at a slight angle toward the outer edges ofsaid panels to coincide with the right angle plane indicated by thedotted line .29 in Figure 3.

The several forms of apparatus shown and described herein are alsoadapted for play under a different set of rules in which the ball ispermitted to rebound either on the table court surface 50 or upon afloor court area Within the prescribed limits; as for instance, withinthe boundary line 45 marked on the floor at the player end of the court,as shown in Figure 1. When the apparatus is employed for this type ofgame, it is usually desirable to provide an upright'panellfi immediatelyadjacent and below the base line 2-0 of the table court, so as to'closethe space between the table court and the floor and prevent unintendedescape of balls beneath the table when the latter may be accidentallystruck in that direction. It will be understood, however, that the panel46 is not essential to the play of a game of this character since it isonly provided to minimize th necessity of retrieving lla'alls improperlystruck beneath the table court The use of 'my novel game apparatus willalready be apparent from the preceding description but the followinggeneral observations may be added:

Although "the novel apparatus is adapted for playing a game including apaddle or bat and a table tennis ball or the like, the provision of theforwardly inclined abutment wall having the characteristic inclinedrelationship to the length of the court introduces certain novelelements of skill in playing technique unknown to squash, tennis andsimilar games.

For "instance, any initial rebound from the in- 7 clined abutment wallis caused to strike the court and then to rebound therefrom at aconsiderably greater angle than in games where the abutment wall is inthe usual vertical position relative to the playing court. Hence withthe present apparatus, the sharpest and most direct returns from theabutment wall toward the base line of the court are produced by strikinga ball toward the wall from as low a level as practicable, and directingit upwardly toward the upper portion of the playing area on the endwall, demarked by the boundary line 28. This is contrary to the methodof play in table tennis, wherein the swiftest return shots must be madeby striking the ball from a relatively high point above the court so asto clear the net and still stay within the base line of the oppositecourt. Accordingly, with my novel apparatus, the player has exceptionalopportunities to increase or decrease the speed and angle of reboundfrom the court, depending upon the height from which he chooses tostrike the ball. Nevertheless, the players are always assured that theball, initially propelled against the end abutment wall at any pointbelow the horizontal boundary line 28, will rebound on the court so asto keep it in play, regardless of the height or speed at which the ballmay be struck from the player end of the court. This ability to keep theball in play is, of course, en-

hanced by the provision of diverging side walls l2. l2, which also addto the diversity of play. Accordingly, the apparatus of the presentinvention affords the unique effect wherein the ball is repeatedlyfunneled back to the players, re-

gardless of the point from which the ball may be struck toward the endwall, or the point from which the ball rebounds from the playing area onsaid end wall.

In further comparison with the game of table tennis, my novel apparatusmakes it possible to play the game with far less floor space than isrequired for table tennis. The table court itself is only about one-halfthe length of a standard table tennis court and, in addition, thefunneling efiect previously mentioned insures that the ball will bereturned to the player end of the court within easy reach of bothplayers so as to require much less lateral foot room or floor space forthe playere. This feature is especially enhanced by the upwardlyinclined table court panel l8 at the player end of the court. Thisupwardly inclined area produces a higher rebound of any ball strikingsaid area than the normal rebound when the entire table court is in oneplane.

As a result, those balls which rebound on the upwardly inclined courtarea [8 near the player end of the court, which otherwise would tend torebound from the court at a relatively low angle and at a relativelyhigh speed, are caused to rebound at a higher angle and at a reducedspeed, thus making it easier for a player to return the balls with lessbodily movement toward or away from the table. On the other hand. ballswhich rebound on the downwardly inclined court area I! nearer the endwall are returned to the player end of the court at a lower angle andtherefore at somewhat greater speed than on a level court.

The difference in angle of rebound from court areas I1 and i8, as justdescribed above, is illustrated graphically in Figures 1 and 3, whereina ball J is struck from a point beyond the player end of the courtadjacent the base line or edge G, so as to strike the end panel 22 atpoint K substantially below the horizontal boundary line tory of theball is indicated inv a substantially straight line, although inpractice the trajectory will be affected by gravity depending upon itsspeed. The ball will rebound from the end panel at an anglesubstantially equal to its angle of incidence, in accordance with thewell-known law. Disregiarding any effect of initial spin which may beimparted to the ball, as well as the efiect of gravity, the ball willtravel from point K so as to strike point L on the downwardly inclinedcourt panel [1 at a relatively small angle thereto, as seen in Figure 3.Again rebounding from point L, the ball will travel along a relativelylow trajectory indicated by the line LM.

When the ball J is struck at a substantially higher angle so as tostrike the abutment panel 22 at point N immediately below line 28, itsinitial rebound will be directed at a downward angle so as to strike theupwardly inclined court section [8 at point P. The angle of incidence ofthe .ball to the court at point P will manifestly be considerablygreater than the angle of incidence of the ball when rebounding frompoint L on the downwardly inclined court section ll, as previouslydescribed. As a result, the final trajectory of the ball as it passesfrom point P substantially along line PQ will be much higher than thetrajectory LM, and consequently at a lower horizontal speed, making iteasier for the player to return it.

Figure 1 also shows the trajectory of the ball indicated at JRST, whichis substantially at the same level as the trajectory JKLM butincludll'lg an additional rebound S on one of the side walls [2. Thisillustrates the wide diversity of play which may include rebounds on theside walls as well as the end abutment wall, but in all cases the ballwill be funneled back to the players at the open end of the court withat least one rebound of the ball on the court area whenever the ball isfairly struck against the abutment wall below the horizontal boundaryline 28.

Consequently, the game requires great alertness and skill to keep theball in play but, at the same time, the players are enabled to standconsiderably closer t the base line than in table tennis or similargames. Since most returns are funneled back so as to be practicallywithin arms reach of the players, much less foot work is required thanin other similar games. In fact, when the game is restricted to reboundsupon the table court only, the apparatus readily lends itself to use byplayers who are partially, or even wholly, incapacitated as to footwork.

When the game is played under rules permitting a rebound within thefloor court area 45, as well as on the table court panel areas I! andit, the ball may be played by bouncing it against the end abutment wallabove the horizontal boundary line 28, and permitting a single reboundupon the floor court after the ball has been returned beyond the baseline G of the table court area.

The added diversity of play inherent in this type of game is illustratedgraphically in Figure 2, wherein the ball is struck from point J beyondthe base line or court edge G so as to strike the and panel 22 at apoint V substantially above the horizontal boundary line 28, and withsuflicien-t velocity that it does not strike the table court area, butwill be carried in flight over the base line or edge G for its firstrebound at point W within the floor court area 45. When 28. Forconvenience in illustration, the trajecplaying this type of game, it mayals be tional for the player to strike the abutment wall at any pointbelow the horizontal boundary line 28 for a first rebound on the tablecourt, with the same variety of shots previously described in connectionwith Figure 1, so that the ball will be rebounded from either panel I!or [-8 of the table court area before it passes beyond the base line Gfor a second rebound on the floor court. It will be understood of coursethat, in playing the second type of game just described in connectionwith Figure 2, the players would normally stand farther back from thebase line G, and that considerably more foot work would ordinarily berequired because of the greater diversity and range of play involved.

Although I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention,it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the exactconstruction shown and described, but that various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a bouncing ball game apparatus, an elongated table providedthroughout its length and width with an unobstructed playing surface andhaving the forward end thereof as a player position end, an abutmentwall fixed to and projecting upwardly from the opposite end of saidtable and having a plane unobstructed ball rebounding surface inclinedat an acute angle to the plane of an adjacent portion of said tableplaying surface, said abutment wall having a playing area with its upperlimit defined by a linear marker extending transversely of the abutmentwall, the relative length of said table and height of said playing areabeing such that a line extending from the player position end of thetable to said marker is normal to said playing area, whereby a ballimpinging the rebounding surface of said area will always reboundinitially toward the table short of the player position end thereof, andsaid table playing surface comprising a main playing surface of majorarea inclinedv downwardly from said abutment wall toward said playerposition, and an auxiliary playing surface of minor area inclineddownwardly from said player position end into juncture with said mainplaying surface interme.. diate said abutment wall and said playerposition end.

2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein said surface of majorarea is substantially 10 twice the length of said surface of minor arealongitudinally of the table.

3. The structure according to claim 2, together with ball confiningwalls extending upwardly from said table and diverging from the lateraledges of said abutment wall to points adjacent said player position endof the table.

4. In a bouncing ball game apparatus, an elongated table providedthroughout its length and width with an unobstructed playing surface andhaving a forward end thereof as a player position end, an abutment wallfixed to and projecting upwardly from the opposite end of said table andhaving a plane unobstructed ball rebounding surface inclined at an acuteangle to said playing surface, said ball rebounding surface having agenerally horizontal boundary line thereacross defining upper and lowerrebounding surface areas, the relative length of said table and heightof said boundary line being such that a line extending from the playerposition end of the table to said boundary line is normal to the planerebounding surface thereof, whereby a ball impinging said lowerrebounding surface area will rebound initially toward the table short ofthe player position end of the latter, and a second playing surfacebeyond and below the level of said first playing surface and extendingforwardly of said player position end and onto which a ball impingingsaid upper rebounding surface area with sufficient force will berebounded when it passes over and beyond the player position end of thetable.

5. The structure according to claim 4, wherein an upright backstop wallcloses the space between the first and second playing surfaces.

6. The structure according to claim 4, together with ball confiningwalls extending upwardly from said table and diverging from the lateraledges of said abutment wall to points adjacent said player position endof the table.

GEORGE H. FORSYTH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,045,460 Goewey June 23, 19352,066,724 Forsyth Jan. 5, 1937 2,333,098 Forsyth Nov. 2, 1943

